US gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar sentenced to up to 175 years for sexual abuse

Larry Nassar, former doctor for the US women’s gymnastics team, is sentenced to up to 175 years for sexual abuse charges.

A Michigan judge on Wednesday sentenced Larry Nassar, the longtime former doctor for the U.S. women’s national gymnastics team, to up to 175 years in prison on sexual-abuse charges.

The sentence followed a week of emotional testimony by upward of 150 women, including decorated Olympians Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, who accused him of abusing them under the guise of medical treatment.

The hearings, broadcast over live television, have prompted widespread outcry over a scandal that has simmered for more than 18 months, bringing promises of sweeping change to the sport’s governing body.

In a packed courtroom Wednesday, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina castigated Dr Nassar for what she said was a failure to accept his guilt. “I just signed your death warrant,” she said. Addressing the girls and young women, she said: “You are no longer victims, you are survivors.”

This GIF of Judge Aquilina throwing away the letter Larry Nassar wrote the court about how hard it is for him to listen to victim testimonies PRETTY MUCH SAYS IT ALL. pic.twitter.com/5HB9WMaPqU

— Ellie Hall (@ellievhall) January 24, 2018

Dr Nassar pleaded guilty in November to seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual assault in Ingham County, Mich. He still faces sentencing in Eaton County on three other counts. He was sentenced in December to 60 years in federal prison on child-pornography and obstruction charges.

US Olympic Committee President Scott Blackmun said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that the organisation was launching an investigation “to examine how an abuse of this proportion could have gone undetected for so long.” Mr Blackmun said the culture of the sport needed to be changed, and threatened to decertify USA Gymnastics if the governing body didn’t make governance changes.

“The USOC should have been there in person,” Mr Blackmun said of the Michigan sentencing hearing, “and I am deeply sorry that did not happen.”

In a statement, USA Gymnastics President Kerry Perry applauded the sentence as “an effort to bring justice to those he abused and punish him for his horrific behaviour.”

The Michigan sexual-abuse cases relate to around a dozen girls and young women whom Dr Nassar abused in the state over the past two decades, including athletes at local gymnastics clubs and a longtime family friend.

In a brief address Wednesday, Dr Nassar — his face drawn and voice shaking as he twice turned toward the courtroom audience — said “there are no words to express how sorry I am.” He added: “I will carry your words with me for the rest of my life.”

One of Dr Nassar’s victims, Rachael Denhollander, wipes a tear from her eye as he is sentenced. Picture: AP.

Before issuing the sentence, Judge Aquilina read from a letter Dr Nassar sent the court this month, in which he said he was performing legitimate medical procedures on grateful patients. That claim contradicted his guilty plea.

“Because of the porn” cases in federal court, Dr Nassar wrote, “I lost all support.” He wrote that he pleaded guilty to the state charges to spare the community further anguish, but the Michigan Attorney-General’s office “would only accept my plea if I said what I did was not medical and was for my own pleasure. They forced me to say that.”

Judge Aquilina read more of Dr Nassar’s statement, in a voice tinged with sarcasm: “The same patients that praised and came back over and over, and referred family and friends to see me” had turned against him because of the “sensationalised” case.

Judge Rosemarie Aquilina reads excerpts from the letter written by Larry Nassar. Picture: AP.

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” he wrote. As the judge read those words, gasps of disbelief were heard through the courtroom.

Among the victims in the state case was Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to go public with claims against Dr Nassar in an interview with the Indianapolis Star in the summer of 2016.

More than a year before Ms Denhollander went public, Dr Nassar was quietly forced out of USA Gymnastics after members of the US women’s national team, including Ms Raisman, described concerns to the governing body about Dr. Nassar’s medical care. After a five-week internal inquiry, USA Gymnastics referred the matter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in July 2015.

The NCAA said Tuesday it had sent a letter of inquiry to Michigan State University, where Dr Nassar worked for more than two decades. The school’s board of trustees have asked the state’s attorney general to review the events surrounding the case. University President Lou Anna Simon has faced calls to step down.

This week, USA Gymnastics’ last major sponsor, AT & T, said it was ending its relationship with the organisation, specifically citing the abuse scandal. Three top USA Gymnastics board members, including chairman Paul Parilla, resigned under pressure Monday.

USA Gymnastics, the USOC and MSU have denied wrongdoing.